NEW IN THE READING ROOM Addition to Workbench Notes Bell UH-1B in 1/72 by Italeri with Dekl decals NEW IN THE GALLERIES Additions to the Aircraft Galleries Airbus A.330-200 in 1/144 by Revell with Hawkeye decals Bell UH-1B in 1/72 by Italeri with Dekl decals Kawasaki Ki-61 in 1/32 by Hasegawa Nakajima Ki-44 in 1/32…

Variable Geometry Aircraft Grumman XF10F-1 – General Dynamics F-111C- Tupolev Tu-22M The idea of the variable geometry (‘swing wing’) aircraft took off after the allies came across the prototype of the Messerschmitt P.1011. The innovation promised to solve the problem of making an aircraft what could achieve high performance with a swept wing and good…

Inter-war Light Aircraft Henschel Hs125 – British Aircraft Swallow II – Potez 580 The period of the 1920s and 1930s was a fertile period in the development of all branches of aviation, perhaps most in light civil aircraft where the relatively low development costs meant many ideas could be tried and low production runs were…

BALLARAT AVIATION MUSEUM Ballarat Airport Ballarat, Victoria, Australia The Ballarat Aviation Museum is a community based volutneer operated museum located at Ballarat Airport. It’s collection comprises representative examples of most museum exhibits representing the rich history of aviation ranging from aircraft and aero engines to uniforms and documents. In addition, the museum is linked to…

Big British Bombers Short Stirling B.I – Handley Page Halifax B.I – Avro Vucan B.2 Let’s keep looking at big bombers this week, since we looked at American bombers last week and French bombers the week before. The biggest bombers have been the strategic bombers, aircraft designed to fly long distances carrying heavy loads to…

Big Boeing Bombers Boeing B-17B – Boeing B-29A – Boeing WB-47B Can there be anyone in the world with even the slightest interest in aviation who doesn’t know the word ‘Boeing’. Up until the mid 1930s it was known mainly for its fighters including the F4B, P-12 and P-26. However, from the mid 1930s it…

Airways Museum Edgar Johnston Lane, Essendon Airport, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia The Airways Museum may be unique among the world’s aviation museums. Its focus is on the preservation and display of historical electronic equipment association with the development of Australian civil aviation rather than aircraft. This museum is administered by the Civil Aviation Historical Society, a…

Here is the link to the Museum’s latest newsletter.

Bloch 200 – Bloch 131 – Dassault Mirage IVA The French aircraft industry was among world leaders from the beginning and, apart from the setback in the first half of the 1940s, has been at the forefront of aviation technology since. To show how rapidly the industry developed let’s look at three examples of French…

NEW IN THE READING ROOM Addition to Workbench Notes CAC CA-27 Avon Sabre in 1/72 by High Planes NEW IN THE GALLERIES Additions to the Aircraft Galleries Airbus A.330-300 (Air Hong Kong, B-LDO, 2020) in 1/144 by Revell CAC CA-27 Avon Saber (A94-971, 3 Squadron RAAF, 1958) in 1/72 by High Planes Grumman F9F-2 (VFM-311,…

Ambulance Aircraft Augusta 109 K2 – Bloch 81 – Aerospatiale SA365N Dauphin 2 Two of the great advantages of air travel over land travel is that it is faster and can simply fly over obstructions like rivers, mountains and traffic jams. This makes flying perhaps the best (but not the cheapest) way of transporting people…

Pusher Warplanes De Schelde S.21 – Kyushu J8W1 – Vultee XP-54 When we wander around the museum we take it for granted that propeller driven aircraft have their engines and propellers at the front of the aircraft. But very occasionally there is one with the propeller at the back. At the beginning of aviation it…